The Gift Gamers Will Gobble Up: Chocolate Space Invaders.

Fruition is a small batch Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Workshop in the Catskill Mountains of New York and Shaloon is a design studio in Brooklyn, NY. Together they created the Chocolate Invader.




This collaborative effort between Fruition Chocolate and Shaloon brings us delicious small batch chocolate made in the shape of a classic video game character from Space Invaders, an arcade video game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released in 1978.



The Chocolate Invader, which weighs 50 grams, is created with with Single Origin 66% Dark Chocolate crafted from Costa Rica Cacao and Peruvian cocoa:


The beans are sorted by hand to remove any foreign materials or less than perfect quality beans. Each batch of chocolate invader is made from beans from one region. The genetics, climate, and post harvest processing effect the final flavor of cocoa beans from every region, yielding unique flavors from origin to origin.

The beans are then slowly roasted and then the shells are removed.:


The cocoa is mixed with evaporated cane juice and cocoa butter:


The cocoa is ground in a granite melangeur for 4 days. When complete, its texture is extremely smooth and the flavor is nuanced and in balance. The mill uses two 40 pound granite wheels to refine the particle size of cocoa until grittiness is no longer detected on your palate.

Once finished, the chocolate is tempered and molded into invaders. Tempering is the process by which chocolate is warmed and cooled to specific temperatures in order to induce the propagation of stable cocoa butter crystals. Proper tempering will allow the chocolate to set shiny and have its characteristic snap.



The design was produced on a CNC (computer numerically controlled) machine to create the mold. The metal plate was then used to thermoform plastic, creating the molds they used to shape the chocolate into an invader.


The Chocolate Invader was designed in 3D CAD. You can download the STL model for their chocolate invader here at Thingverse

The Three Bar Gift Set:


three 50 gram 66% dark chocolate bars
- invader mini-poster
- invader sticker
- invader postcard
- joy of eating 69 pixels
$20, buy it here

2-Bars + Laser Engraved Box:

- two 50 gram 66% dark chocolate bars
- limited edition engraved wood box
- invader mini-poster
- invader sticker
- invader postcard
- joy of eating 46 pixels
$18, buy it here


Fan of Space Invaders? 
Then you'll want to check these out:

The Space Invaders Watch:


The Space Invader's Couch:


The Space Invader's Rings:

Limited Edition 'Wants vs. Needs' Venn Diagram Watches from Mr. Jones.

Let me start by saying that the limited edition watches from Mr. Jones always sell out quickly. So, if you like this unusual timepiece, I suggest you jump on it now, since it's limited to 100 pieces only.

Unisex/Mens:

Ladies:


Both Mens/Unisex and and Ladies styles:


Wants vs Needs comes in two sizes: a smaller ladies-specific case as well as this larger unisex size. This watch is produced in an edition of 100 pieces, with each watch individually numbered on the case back.



Unisex Watch Box by artist Camilla Meijer
The Unisex or Mens watch comes in a MJW presentation box, with specially commissioned design by artist and illustrator Camilla Meijer:




Women's Watch Box by artist Fanny Shorter
And the women's watch comes in a MJW presentation box, with specially commissioned design by artist and illustrator Fanny Shorter:




The hands on this watch are in the form of two circles, one circle is labelled "what I want" and the other "what I need". As the circles move to mark the time, they form a Venn diagram.



The shifting relationship that the diagram depicts between "wants" and "needs" is a way for us to think about the changing nature of our own desires and their fulfilment.



The watch is a tool for questioning ourselves - how does the diagram reflect the relationship between our own wants and needs at any given time?

Specs:
Case: 316L stainless steel
Mechanism: Ronda 513 quartz movement
Strap: Black leather with red stitching
Width (3 o'clock to 9 o'clock): 37mm
Height (from lug to lug): 46mm
Waterproof: 5ATM
Guarantee: 12 months
Smallest strap diameter:150mm
Largest strap diameter: 205mm

Shop for the Wants vs. Needs watches here

A Jet Ski and a Yacht Had A Baby! Check Out The New 2014 Jet Capsule.

The Jet Capsule is a small, aerodynamically designed customizable egg-shaped fiberglass boat designed by Pierpaolo Lazzarini of Lazzarini Design that has evolved much since it's initial concept in 2009.

Owen Wilson in The Killers' Christmas In LA , a 5 Minute Melancholy Mixed Media Music Video.

The Killers have shared their latest charity Christmas single, Christmas In L.A., whose proceeds will benefit the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. This is the eighth year that the Killers have partnered with (RED), the AIDS awareness organization founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver, to produce a Christmas single.



Directed by Kelly Loosli (who is the program director of BYU's animation program) , the mixed media five minute and 12 second music video casts Owen Wilson as a melancholy out of work actor who is dreading December 25th in Los Angeles. I'm not sure if this is odd or perfect casting given Wilson's suicide attempt in 2007 , which everyone seems to have forgotten. The lonesome video also features actor Harry Dean Stanton (below with Wilson) and animation by Loosli's students at Brigham Young University.




Watch the video below, and head over to iTunes to purchase "Christmas in L.A.," which features supporting vocals from Dawes.



The Killers

Saks Fifth Avenue's Dramatic 3D Light Projection Holiday Show and YETI Holiday Windows

On Monday, November 25, Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship store came alive with the unveiling of its iconic holiday windows and the debut of its Snowflake Spectacular, a dramatic 3D light show projected onto the façade of the building.


above: Saks' holiday mascot, a shaggy YETI appears in the projected light show as well as in the interactive windows.

Saks Fifth Avenue's annual holiday light show turned the façade of the iconic luxury retailer into a traffic-stopping festive 3D spectacle. Snowflakes, ice skaters, gifts and a Yeti all interact through a custom-built, six-projector system. Iris Worldwide developed the dramatic light show, which utilizes state-of-the-art imaging technology to create a vivid 3D projection that maps the holiday story onto the building's exterior. The show will continue every evening throughout the holiday season.



It's the year of the YETI at Saks with interactive the light show, holiday windows, mobile apps and more featuring the story of the legendary Yeti, who is rumored to live on the roof at Saks, making snow during the holiday season.



Each window depicts a scene from Yeti’s life, from his humble beginnings as an unappreciated snowmaker in Siberia to his starring role as a true snowflake artist in New York.












The YETI plush toy and the accompany storybook (shown below) are available from Saks Fifth Avenue


Spectators can add a personal touch to the window display too. Before arriving, visit saks.com/snow to discover your Yeti name and create your own snowflake, which can later be pinged from your phone onto the tableaux.



The mobile site was created by New York-based The Science Project, featuring artwork from renowned designers Marian Bantjes and Stefan Bucher.




Another special window features a holiday Cadillac. The "Frozen Escalade" prominently features the front clip of a White Diamond 2015 Escalade — a limited edition model offered exclusively to Saks customers. The display's vehicle will have functioning LED running lamps, which appears to be embedded and breaking through a block of ice.



Other Fifth Avenue windows will feature blueprint architectural drawings of the 32 Marian Bantjes snowflakes that have become synonymous with the holidays at Saks Fifth Avenue and will serve as the backdrop to the fashion featured in this year's windows.



Cookies featuring Banjes' snowflake designs were served to guests at the unveiling:


"It gives every one of us at Saks Fifth Avenue great joy to share our iconic holiday windows with the city of New York," said Richard Baker, governor & CEO of Hudson's Bay Co., parent of Saks Fifth Avenue. "The window unveiling is the official start to the holiday season here at Saks, and I am honored to carry the tradition forward with this celebration. Everyone — from resident New Yorkers to tourists — will be dazzled by this year's display."

images courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue , Racked NY and additional information about the light display courtesy of Digital Signage Connection.

Harvey Nichols Hilariously Markets Christmas Shopping To The Selfish This Season.

They say it's better to give than to receive, but not at the marketing department in Harvey Nichols. Their new hilarious holiday campaign, ‘Sorry, I Spent It On Myself’ offers a range of ‘Ultra Low Net Worth’ (ULNW) gifts for those customers who understand that a little something for their nearest and dearest means a bigger something for themselves.


above: The tongue-in-cheek product range designed for the campaign includes mundane items like toothpicks, canned goods and gravel

The Harvey Nichols Christmas Commercials:
The campaign began with a teaser / preview of the new ULNW collection:



The above teaser was followed up with the commercial shown below in which, scene by scene, we begin to discover that in each case the suspiciously well-dressed gift-giver appears to have spent more time and money on themselves at Harvey Nichols, than on their loved ones, instead offering a present from the Harvey Nichols ULNW Gift Collection:



‘At this time of year it can be all too easy to get caught up in the spirit of giving. We hope that our new ‘Sorry, I Spent It On Myself’ Gift Collection will provide our customers with low-cost gifting options for others that will allow them to spoil themselves that little bit more this Christmas.’ said Julia Bowe, the Group Press & Marketing Director of Harvey Nichols

The full Harvey Nichols ‘Sorry, I Spent It On Myself’ Gift Collection
With a varied and competitively priced selection, there’s something for everyone; a Plastic Door Stop for Mum; Non-Swiss Biro Pen for Dad; and nothing quite says Merry Christmas like a packet of Authentic Lincolnshire Gravel.




The ‘Sorry, I Spent It On Myself’ Gift Collection became available in store and online starting Wednesday, November 27th. Sadly all online versions of these items are already sold out:

- Christmas Lunch in a Tin (with most of the trimmings)
- Non-Swiss Biro Pen, 81p
- Real Plastic Door Stop, £1.43
- Elastic Band Gift Set, £1
- Authentic Lincolnshire Gravel, £1.61
- Metal Plated Paper Clips, 99p
- See-Through Glass Salt Cellar, £1.73
- Sink Plug (Water Resistant), £1.13
- Multi-Bristled Toothbrush, 95p
- Toothpicks (100% Wood), 47p
- Genuine Wire Sponge, 96p

"This Christmas, a little something for them means a bigger something for you"
If you visit their special website, you will find, in addition to the commercial, a little slide show comparing the ULNW gifts side by side with something you could splurge on for yourself:



They also offer a free downloadable no frills "Sorry, I spent it on myself" Christmas card:

download the card here

Make your wish list here

 #SpentItOnMyself

Credits:
client: Harvey Nichols
Advertising Agency: adam&eve DDB, London, UK
Creative Directors: Richard Brim, Daniel Fisher
Published: November 2013

The San Lorenzo North Showcase Villa with Marble Tiled Pool at Quinta do Lago by de Blacam and Meagher.

Sleek, modern architecture marks the design of this stunning Showcase House by de Blacam and Meagher Architects that sits on a golf course in Portugal's Quinta do Lago, one of Europe's finest luxury resorts.